Our Upgrades

This post is now superseded by 'Our Upgrades Part 2'

We really love the layout of the Livingstone 23, however did end up making some modifications at each of our appointments; Sales, Tender and Contract. 

Here is the collective list (along with scans of the floor and elevation plan). Please be mindful this list doesn't include all the Post Contract Variations which will happen at our Colour Selection Appointments (which we are slightly nervous about since we have already maxed our budget!).

External Variations 

• Provide brick pier to front of facade in lieu of standard timber posts - no charge
• Provide render to brick piers only - $200
• Provide 300mm raised ceiling to entry including 2340mm high flush panel doors to bed 1 - $759
• Increase remaining ceiling height to 2590mm - $4,907
• Extend the length the garage, bed 1 and entry hallway by 600mm - $5,750
• Provide new store room to the garage - $420
• Delete study and study window, Rotate laundry to 90 degrees and sliding door to be located on rear external wall, Increase laundry to approx. 2000mm wide x 3000mm deep, Extend walk in pantry to be approx. 2900mm deep, Increase dinning width to 4000mm - $1,150
• Increase height of shower niche to 350mm high to both showers - no charge
• Increase width of fridge space to 1050mm (frame to frame) - no charge 

Windows/Doors

• Provide aluminium corner stacker doors in lieu of standard sliding doors - $8,829
• Provide recessed track to aluminium stacker doors in lieu of standard - no charge
• Provide fixed window to dinning room in lieu of standard - $286
• Providing two aluminium awning windows to living room - $463
• Provide flush panel cavity sliding door to living hallway with flush pull - $560
• Provide Corinthian 2340x870 Deco 3 flush panel cavity sliding door to ensuite with flush pull - $400
• Provide 06-15 window to pantry positioned at kitchen bench height - no charge
• Provide 06-26 windows to bed 2, 3 & 4 in lieu of standard - no charge
• Provide 06-26 window to home theater - no charge
• Provide Corinthian 2340x870 Deco 3 internal feature doors (excl. robes) - $1,631
• Provide a Corinthian 2340x870 Deco 3 to bed 1 walk in robe - $340
• Provide a cavity sliding door to laundry in lieu of standard hung door - $60
• Delete robe doors to bed 2, 3, 4 and provide alcove with 2350mm bulkhead - credit -$400

Internal Finishes

• Provide bathroom feature wall to include full height tiling to wall beyond bath and bevelled edge mirror - $962
• Remove wire shelving to pantry and robes - credit -$600
• Provide 80mm stone top to kitchen island in lieu of standard including waterfall edge - $4,972
• Provide 20mm stone top to cooktop run in lieu of standard including waterfall edge - $2,445

Electrical Variations 

• Provide and install silver ceiling sweep fan to alfresco - $378
• Provide additional internal gas point - $140

Plumbing variations

• Provide a cold-water point to the fridge space - $140
• Provide recess kit to gas instantaneous hot water system - $202

Other

• Provide a 3,000L under slab water tank in lieu of standard - $3,100
• Relocate tap from laundry rear to dinning rear - no charge
• Provide internal steps to garage internal access - cost to client 

Our modified floor plan

Elevation Plan

Contract Appointment

Our contract appointment alike the tender appointment was very well organised. We were provided with a sample contract at tender stage which they recommend you read through prior to your contract signing appointment.

Our presenter walked us through each section of the contract, in great detail may I add. If there was anything unclear we'd stop and go over until it was clear.

We unfortunately didn't have a solicitor review the contract prior to this meeting, however did end up getting our solicitor to review in conjunction with our land contract, which is managed separately. All in all the house contract ended up being fine (what a relief!). In hindsight, I don't think we'll ever sign another house contract until we review the land contract. Not that anything negative has happened so far, but it leaves too much risk, especially if the land registration is dragged out.

The contract appointment for us ran smoothly. There are a lot of general clauses to go through, but the most important elements (your variations) shouldn't be new news. We did make a few last minute changes, which included:

• Replacing moroka finish to rendered finish (columns only)
• Repositioning the tap out the back of the home
• Amending the incorrect door widths (from 820mm to 870mm)
• Relocating the laundry cavity sliding door closer towards the back or the home 
• Stairs to garage to be altered to save space (ended up being removed)
• Increase fridge space to be 1000mm wide (finished size)

Other questions:

• Q: When are Post Contract Variations (PCV) due to be paid?
  A: 100% payable at first progress payment (slab)
• Q: Does insulation include the walls to the garage?
  A: Yes, but only to those walls which are gyprocked 

At the conclusion of the meeting we signed the contract and finalised the balance of the 5% deposit (so less the $1,000 holding deposit and $2,500 tender fee). 

We also met with our Customer Service Assistant and were handed a 'Home Option Gallery Colour Selection' pack - pictured below. We were also told we could go down the to Home Options Gallery to make our colour section appointments if we wanted (although we decided to hold off on making any appointments until we knew more about what we actually wanted!) 

And now it's actually official! 

Tender Appointment

We met with our tender presenter at Eden Brae Head Office in Baulkham Hills to review and discuss the fixed price package inclusions, the block, as well as our specific upgrades. 

The tender agreement falls part of your contract, so it's important to get as much detail locked down as possible, specifically structural changes. Eden Brae advise no more structural changes can be made past this appointment. A little daunting when you're trying to decide 18 months out! 

We had quite a list of upgrades and wall movements to work through during the tender appointment. Most of which we had costs for already, except for all the wall movements. I have detailed all upgrades and corresponding costs in a separate post 'Our Upgrades'. We also made sure that nothing had fallen off the list between our sales meeting and the tender, thankfully it was all there. 

Despite knowing your final contract price, don't be fooled! Your contract price doesn't include all the additional upgrades which happen at the colour selection appointments. We made small provisional allowances in our contract which means we could borrow some money from the bank without being too out of pocket at the end.

We had prepared a list of questions which we worked through during the tender. It was interesting to note that if we didn't ask then the presenter wasn't proactively highlight any watch points or things to consider...

For example; we were told we'd have a water tank included in the price (BASIX requirement), which was great to hear, and then we moved onto the next line item. We stopped and asked for more specifics around the water tank such as the size, style and location as this was not part of our drawings. We discovered the 3,000L above ground water tank was a round tank and was going to be positioned at the back of the home between the laundry door and our fixed glass window in the dinning room, which would cause us two problems; 1) it's an eyesore 2) if we wanted to install a ducted air conditioning system we'd have nowhere to put the outdoor unit. We then looked at upgrading to a slimline water tank so that we could position it around the side of the home along the fence line, however this option was a no-go because of the size of our block and minimum setback requirements. Our last option was to investigate an underground water tank which was an option we pushed for verses being offered to us in the first instance. I now wonder what would of happened if we didn't stop and ask the question? 

During the tender we also learnt that we'd have a 900mm (high) retainer wall approx. 1m from the back of the home, all the way across the block! This was a result of the slope of the land and that they need to cut and fill in order to lay the slab. When we first visited the block it was surrounded by fencing and had to be viewed from a distance, and still you were only guessing because nothing was pegged out. In actual fact we thought our block was flat. So as you can appreciate this was not good news! It means extra money (outside of the contract) for retaining blocks and additional excavation! We wish we had of known about this prior! 

At the end of our two hour meeting we processed the $2,500 tender presentation fee and locked in our contract appointment. Another step closer, happy customers!   

Here is our floor, elevation and site plan: 

Floor Plan

Elevation Plan

Site Plan